Biology:Japanese rat snake

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Short description: Species of snake

Japanese rat snake
Elaphe climacophora -Kyoto, Japan-8.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Elaphe
Species:
E. climacophora
Binomial name
Elaphe climacophora
(Boie, 1826)
Japanese rat snake

File:Elaphe climacophora - Japanese rat snake - 2015 10 4.webm The Japanese rat snake (Elaphe climacophora) is a medium-sized colubrid snake found throughout the Japanese archipelago (except the far South West) as well as on the Russian-administered Kunashir Island.[1] In Japanese it is known as the aodaishō[2] or "blue general". It is non-venomous. It is hunted by eagles and tanukis.

The snakes hibernate for three to four months, mate in spring and lay 7–20 eggs in early summer.

Description

Head
Elaphe climacophora by Kawahara Keiga, 1823–1829

Adults reach one to two meters in length and about five centimeters in girth. E. climacophora is the largest Japanese snake outside Okinawa. They are variable in color, ranging from pale yellow-green to dark blue-green.

Juveniles have brown-stripe pattern that may be mimesis of the venomous mamushi. An albino form is known, with specimens especially numerous near Iwakuni, where they are called "Iwakuni white snakes" and revered as messengers of deities and deity-guardians of mountains and rivers. The albino population was protected in 1924 as a "national monument."

Feeding

Japanese rat snakes eat a variety of small animals: rodents, frogs, lizards, shrooms, or flies. They are good at climbing and often raid bird nests. They were favoured by farmers as effective rat control, though unpopular with chicken rearers.

Hybrids

In the German reptile zoo Exotarium Oberhof Elaphe climacophora mated with Elaphe schrenckii to produce fertile hybrids. Offspring look very much like Elaphe taeniura.

References

Wikidata ☰ Q2562020 entry